


Sky Soldiers

by Megchad22



Series: Brothers of the 173rd [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Found Family, Ghosts, M/M, Time Skips, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:29:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25479958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megchad22/pseuds/Megchad22
Summary: The members of the 173rd waited for fifty years for their brother.
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves
Series: Brothers of the 173rd [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1845772
Comments: 5
Kudos: 293
Collections: Finished faves, Numerous OTPS Infinite Fandoms





	Sky Soldiers

The last thing Dave Katz heard was screaming, Klaus screaming for a medic. He felt his Sunshine's hands on his face. Then there was nothing.

Dave opened his eyes to wailing, blinking in the light of day. He looked down toward the sound to a sight that made his heart break. Klaus, the light of his life, his Sunshine was curled over Dave’s body. The sound he was making was akin to wailing, a keening that echoed low. He made no effort to be quiet but the sound refused to echo. Instead it hung in the air like a fog. 

Dave was helpless against that sound, he tried to reach out a hand to Klaus. His hand stopped a foot away. It felt like he was pressed against some kind of glass, cool and smooth. Something was blocking him from his lover. Something stronger. 

“Nothing for it, Katz, he can’t hear us.” A gravelly voice behind him sounded. Sarge. Sargent Adrian Hollister, the father of their little band of brothers. Dave tore himself away from the sight of Klaus in mourning. He could not help the jolt that passed through him when he saw Sarge. The man’s right eye, socket and all, was gone, along with a large chunk of his skull. 

“How did the VC get behind us?” Dave asked. 

Because that was not a shot from the front. The only way to get that kind of damage at that angle was from behind. And Sarge would never turn his back on the enemy. 

Sarge sneered, “Bastards that they are, they did not do this. This was fucking B company behind us.”

It was only then that Dave realized that they were not the only Sky Soldiers next to their own bodies. In fact the only live Sky Soldier was…

Klaus. Not paying any attention. Whose hands were covered in Dave's blood, but the blood caked along the back of his neck could not have been from Dave. 

“He has to get out of here, they’re going to kill him.” Dave breathed deeply conflicted. On the one hand he never wanted Klaus hurting like he clearly was but on the other Klaus should be able to live a long and happy life. It should not be cut short because Dave wanted to hold him again. 

Mudslide, who refused to tell any of them his real name or how he got that nickname, snorted, “They already tried, caught him in the back of the head with a piece of shrapnel. Lucky got back up.”

Dave tore away from the sight of Klaus finally looking up from his body to see the rest of their brothers to glare at Mudslide. He did not let the shrapnel pepper front of the odd way his shoulder was moving deter him. “That is worse. They’ll try to figure out how he did it.”

The 173 quieted as they realized Klaus had gone silent as well. The thin man’s eyes were tracking over the eight bodies. Dave wondered what he was seeing. If he could see the wrongness of their deaths. The wrong angle, the wrong bullet. 

It was starting to occur to Dave that he had been murdered, that they had been murdered at the very least by people who they should have been able to trust. 

Klaus bent down to press a kiss on Dave’s head. Then one by one he closed the eyes of the 173rd. It was only as Klaus was sneaking back into camp that Dave realized that yes, Klaus realized that they had been killed by friends rather than foes. 

The first thing Klaus did was grab the briefcase he carried everywhere. He looked around at the tent the Sky Brothers had shared and his face crumpled. Then his eyes had hardened. 

The thing was Klaus was far more dangerous than anyone outside of the 173rd realized. With whatever was keeping them from reaching for their living brother they were relegated to spectators. Klaus moved stealthily to where B company was billeted. The tent was empty and it seemed like everyone was celebrating far enough away that no one realized Klaus was lurking in the shadows. 

They watched as their brother carefully booby trapped six of the ten beds. Dave watched Sarge puff up with pride at the use of no less than three grenades. At the end Klaus turned himself in a circle. His voice wavered as he spoke, “I’m...I’m not sure if you are all here, or if any of you are. I’m high enough that I can’t see anyone. I don’t know that what I did will catch any of the fuckers who did this but I can’t stay. I can’t be here when I-I come down. I’m sorry I’m such a coward.”

It was Spook, named for the fact that everything from his hair to his skin to his eyes were pale, near white, who spoke, “You’ve nothing to be ashamed of, brother. Better you out than dealing with shits like them.”

But of course Klaus did not hear. Instead he opened the briefcase and vanished in a flash of blue light. 

Marksman blinked, “Huh, I thought I had imagined that.”

Mudslide, Johnson, and Spook all whooped out loud when the tent of their killers blew up in the middle of the night, taking almost all of them with it. 

Time moved strangely for the dead, or at least for the dead soldiers. They’re disconnected, stuck waiting. It isn’t hard to figure out what they are waiting for. They were a family and one of their brothers was still missing. 

Over the years they would be occasionally pulled to a specific location. The first time had been the report of the investigation of the attack that killed them.

Only Sarge and Johnson had been able to stick it out for the entire report. Every other member had to step out of the room. For Spook and Mudslide it was hearing of their deaths described in detail in dispassionate voices. For Maritinez, Smith, and Marksman it was finding out that their murderers had been following orders. Pierce left during the dry recitation of the single missing body. For Dave it had been the moment he realized what it meant that he and Klaus had switched tags. His body had robbed Klaus of his grave. 

All he could think while hearing the report is what would go through Klaus’s mind if he ever heard it. There would be a moment where his Sunshine would think another had survived, where he would feel like he had abandoned them. Then reality would set in and Klaus would lose them all over again. 

The second time they had felt the pull was to witness the public awarding of their medals. They were all awarded posthumously, with the exception of Dave’s own. It was a big hurrah where the same family that wanted nothing to do with any of them stood accepting their awards. Even Dave’s sister, who once told him she thought he should burn in hell, managed to squeeze a few words of hoping that wherever he is he would come home as she accepted his medal for bravery.

Even if he was alive his home certainly wasn’t with her. 

Watching Johnson practically growl at the woman who had sent him a Dear John three days after he arrived in country, made his own anger all the sharper. None of these people deserved to celebrate their accomplishments. Not the family that abandoned them, not the government that had them killed. None of them. The only living person that had any right to this kind of spectacle had vanished in a flash of blue. 

Not that any of them could communicate it. 

Decades after they died they felt a pull once again, this time to Czechoslovakia. It took hours for them to realize why they were there, when a young woman abruptly went from not being pregnant to being in labor. 

Unseen by any of the residents eight dead soldiers crowded into the birthing room, a shared cabin on a sealed train heading for West Germany. When the baby was born blue the mother, still hysterical, fled with the other members of the cabin. The soldier got to watch as, after 10 minutes, the baby began to breathe and cry. They watched as Reginald Hargreeves stepped into the room and picked up the crying baby, then turned and left just before the conductor arrived.

Surprisingly it was Marksman that figured it out first, “That’s Klaus.” 

Johnson walked over to where Reginald had just paid a woman to care for the child he just functionally abducted. He pushed his hand forward, passing through the woman but stopping one foot away from the baby, “Shit it is Klaus ”

Dave walked closer, shaking his head, “There is no way that’s...” The baby opened his eyes and Dave locked eyes with the infant, “Holy Shit, that’s Klaus.”

Dave’s hands rested on the glass keeping him from the baby. Spooky rolled his eyes, “He is a bit young for you right now.”

Pierce sniggered, “At least we know why we haven’t seen him yet. We gotta have 30 years before he’s the right age.”

The decision to follow Klaus was as unanimous as it was undiscussed. What else would they do, for the thirty years that they are waiting for their brother to come home. So they followed him to that dark house, with its museum feel.

They could tell when Klaus’s ability to see the dead became active, because suddenly they could see the dead surrounding him. When Klaus’s powers activated at age of three, they sent Johns forward eagerly. Of all of them Johnson was the least mutilated, though even he had no idea how he managed to get shot through the crown of the head. But unlike the screaming dead Klaus could not see any of them, nor could they get passed the glass between them and Klaus.

Martinez theorized that it was because Klaus hadn’t actually met any of them yet. They could not interrupt the timeline, and Klaus had not recognized him when he met them later on. Dave remembered how the Glass separated them from Klaus when they died and wasn’t sure. 

They were there for the first trip to the mausoleum, silent spectators as their brother screamed. 

Through the years they saw their brother in every light. They saw his lows and his highs. They saw him very high most of the time. They watched as various siblings tried to help, but failed because they truly never understood why he chose to get high. 

Of the siblings it was harder to judge some than others. It was hard to judge Vanya for drawing away when Klaus was doing the same. It was easier to frown a Luther and his need to fit in with their abuser. 

After Ben died Martinez and Smith made a half hearted attempt to get his attention, but like with Klaus and the ghosts they were held apart. 

Klaus grew to look more and more like the brother who they had lost. His form stretching and and growing skeletal as more drugs took hold. They saw the stories behind the scars he bragged about and the ones he hid. 

It was easy to believe this was their punishment for their sins. Sarge never let that talk go on for very long but it was hard to keep that thought away. They were helpless, seeing their brother hurt himself and be hurt. 

Smith, who had tried to save them from the first grenade and lost most of his torso as a result, spoke as Klaus got into another argument with Ben. “You know, I’m no longer surprised that Lucky didn’t leave before we all died.”

The rest of the 173rd turned to look at him. Then, Martinez sighed, “Yeah, I thought my family was fucked.”

Then came the funeral for public enemy number 1, aka Reginald Hargreeves. Sarge had called dibs on all the ways to make that bastard's afterlife as horrific as they could, at least they would as soon as they got to the afterlife. 

When Klaus was abducted in a towel, Mudslide swore. Martinez looked for all the world like he wanted to shut his eyes. Pierce and Smith pressed themselves closed together. Spooky glared at the masked abductors. Johnson, the youngest, looked pained. Even Sarge, the hardass that he was was unable to remain unaffected. Dave felt his nonexistent stomach drop.

They all remembered the towel he was wearing. They remembered the cuts and bruises that Lucky had abjectly refused to talk about. And now they had front row seats to each injury. They knew how hopeless he felt. 

Sarge actually lost it after Klaus had been locked in the closet. When he heard Ben speak of feeling helpless. His hand shot through the ghost without slowing. 

They each had mixed feelings about Klaus adopting siblings. There is no doubt that each of them were horribly abused. There is no doubt they care in their own way about each other. But it was hard not to agree with little miss Vanya, they were not family. At best they were survivors seeking out other survivors to comfort themselves. 

They could get there, could build a family from the ashes. But it was too late for them to have Klaus. Klaus belonged to the 173rd, just like they belonged to him. Or he soon would, and it was becoming obvious that there was no room for Ben. Ben may have understood more than their other siblings but not enough. Not now. 

After thirty years of Klaus sharpening their senses, the fact that he vanished was immediately felt. Times drifted again until suddenly he was back. Now it was their Klaus ‘Lucky’ Hargreeves.

The first thing Dave did after Klaus returned was try to touch him. Unfortunately the glass remained. 

Just before his frustration could erupt a voice rang out, “It’s not time yet. Not long though.”

Almost as one, the eight dead members of the Sky Soldiers turned away from their one living one. Not far away was a young girl in grey scale. She was looking right at them. Something about her seemed...old and powerful. She was watching Klaus with a strange look on her face.

Sarge took a step forward, standing between this girl and a sobbing Klaus. “What do you mean?”

Her monochromatic eyes snapped to take in Sarge, “It’s impressive. Not many would have been able to hold onto themselves this long. You should be proud of yourselves for that. Your last member has something he has to do. He can’t go with you yet.”

“Why can’t he see us, then?” Dave was surprised to hear his own voice and the anger it contained. Klaus had been through so much.

It must have been his imagination but the girl seemed to smile for a moment, “I’ll admit he’s not one of my favorites but the two of you were adorable.” she muttered, then continued in a louder tone, “He will be able to see once he is strong enough for what he needs to do.”

With that the monochrome girl vanished. Dave looked wide eyed at the others. 

It was heartbreaking watching their brother, now fully the man they remembered. No one seemed to notice the true changes in Klaus. Not except the young old version of his brother Five. And even then he was too caught up in the end of the world to truly care. 

Pierce actually tried to chuck his head, cut off during when the second grenade pushed debris from the first clean through his neck, at Diego when he made that crack about being able to see them to Klaus. 

The knife wielding Hargreeves made up for it later when he helped Klaus by tying him up. Only to lose points again as he promptly left his brother tied up in the attic. Where Klaus managed to knock himself out. 

After a while Klaus began to move, whimpering. Even knowing that Klaus couldn’t hear him Dave was helpless against the way that his love’s name slipped from his lips. To the surprise of absolutely everyone in the room Klaus turned to look at him.

The absolute joy in Klaus’s face was heartrending. Just as mudslide was moving into Klaus' line of vision the world skipped like a scratched record. There was a feeling of moving sideways in 5 directions at once. Then with a blink they were back at the meeting where everyone found that the umbrella academy died. 

As Five entered the room, Mudslide muttered, “This is that little bastard's fault, I just know it.”

Dave felt like the breath he hadn’t taken in fifty years was frozen inside of him. For an instant he thought he felt the pain of the bullet that killed him all over again. Klaus had seen him. Klaus had SEEN him. Klaus had looked so ecstatic to see him. 

  
  


Little bastard indeed. 

Marksman cooed as Klaus tried to cheer Luther up, and hissed as when the big oaf through their brother. 

Martinez glared and grumbled at Ben as the other guilted Klaus into looking for Luther. Dave couldn't help the pride when Klaus threw the pill. The pride did not dim even as Klaus gave in. 

He must have really wanted to see them, for that to be his reaction. 

Seeing Klaus die and come back to life left Dave conflicted. He didn’t wish death on Klaus, didn’t want him to hurt. But Dave was also selfish. He wanted his fella back in his arms. Dying was a way to do that. 

It was impossible for any of them to stop trying to reach out. They hadn’t managed in 30 years. Everytime they did they were met with the feel of smooth glass separating them from Klaus. Only now the glass was not smooth. There were fractures spidering along the surface. 

They grew bigger as Klaus argued to let Vanya out. As she panicked. When Luther, huge handed Luther who had choked his brother while drunk, pushed him away. 

Sarge looked up, his good flashing “Men, I want that door off its hinges, now. Katz, check on Lucky. Johnson, you are the least beat up, go explain to the young lady what is going on. Move it.”

Spooky moved to take the guard position, peering toward the elevator the living had come down on. Johnson moved to step through the door. Vanya was staring out at them, her mouth hung open. 

Marksman and Mudslide stepped away, bickering about how they would tear down the door. 

Smith herded the now visible Ben away from their brother, making sure the young man was with his own siblings. They didn’t hate him, but they could reach Klaus again, he did not need to watch over him any more. Pierce and Smith stood guard on Diego and Luther, despite being the most torn up they were still the ones who could take down the two easiest if they started to act up. 

Dave took a step closer to Klaus, then two. He managed to put his hand on Klaus’s cheek before the other man gasped and whirled around.

“Dave” Klaus breathed.

Klaus could see him, the glass was gone. Dave could only smile, “Oh. Sweetheart.”

Klaus fell forward as Dave pulled him in, “It is you. Oh...Dave...I tried. I tried to find you. I swear.”

Dave rested his head on top of Klaus’s “Shhh. It's alright, sunshine. I’m right here. We’ve been trying to get back to you for so long. I’m so proud of you.”

Over the top of Klaus’s head Dave could see into the cell that held Vanya, her face was turned slightly to talk with Johnson. At least she was calmer. As the 173rd had been around the academy since Reginald had, technically, abducted Klaus, they were very much aware of the powers that had been suppressed and how...volatile they could be. Mudslide was pulling an explosive from his vest and gesturing emphatically at the door to the cell.

“I’m so tired, Dave. So tired. I just want to rest.” Klaus’s voice was heavy. 

Sarge caught his eye as Dave pulled Klaus even closer. One eyed man jerked his head over at the living Hargreeves, who had since been joined by Allison. They were staring wide eyed at the soldiers. It seemed like they were surprised enough that they had not yet noticed Ben in their midst. 

Dave moved just far enough away so he could look Klaus in the eye, he used the hand not still wrapped around his love to ensure that Klaus was looking him in the eye, “I know sweetheart and I am so proud of you. Not much farther, love. Just this one mission and then you can rest. We’ll be with you. From now until the end.”

Klaus nodded shakily. Dave wondered if any of the Hargreeves realized how ready Klaus was to die. How ready he was to rejoin his brothers. He also wondered if it mattered if they did. Klaus would be home soon, that was what mattered. 

A strange fizzling drew everyone’s attention to the door. It seemed that the ghostly ordinance did not explode so much as melt. The door dissolved. That was an odd sight. 

Mudslide whooped, “I told you we could do it.”

“An explosion would have been more satisfying” Marksman pouted, then sighed, “But I suppose killing the pretty girl we’re trying to save is counterproductive.”

Marksman grinned at Vanya. She flinched. Possibly at the way the movement pulled at his burns. 

Sarge rolled his good eye, “Stop scaring the lady. Sorry, Miss Vanya, we are a bit of a mess. But we will make sure you get to safety.”

With Johnson escorting Vanya and Klaus wrapped in Dave’s arms the 173rd began to get the living back to the sitting room on the floor above. 

This proved to be slightly more difficult than it should have been. Primarily because they were not the only ghosts that Klaus had brought back to this plane. In a way it did make things easier as both Luther and Diego were both too busy gawking at the various, bloody forms to argue with each other or the soldiers. 

They entered the sitting room at the same time that Five walked through one of his portals. 

Apparently this was also the queue for Diego to regain some of his fight, “What the fuck?”

Dave guided Klaus to one of the couches, sitting with him. Dave carefully arranged them so that Klaus was curled against the part of his chest that was not bloody or a gaping hole. It wouldn’t have hurt him but might have been destressing to Klaus. Klaus himself had let his eyes drift close, apparently just taking in the sounds of their voices. 

Sarge took charge, “You’ll have to be specific, boy.”

Before the words were fully out of his mouth half the room knew this was the wrong tone to take with the volatile Diego. 

Diego snarled, “Watch who you’re talking to like that, asshole.”

Sarge rolled his eye, “Do you want a pissing match or do you want answers?”

Allison waved her writing pad with the word ‘answers’ written on it, the hit Diego upside the head. Diego subsided but glowered. 

Sarge snorted, unimpressed by the byplay “My name is Sergeant Adrian Hollister of the 173rd Brigade, Sky Soldiers. It’s good to officially meet you, Allison.”

She started and Luther moved forward protectively, “How did you know her name?”

Even Diego was looking at Luther incredulously, “That is your question?”

Mudslide cackled, “Classic Spaceboy, really way to hone in on the important questions.”

“Mudslide.”

“Yes, Sarge?”

“Shut up.”

“Yes, Sarge”

Sarge sighed, “We know Allison’s name because we were here when she received it. YOu could say we’ve been here a while”

Five blinked himself closer peering up at the soldier, “There’s no way you are alive with a wound like that.”

Sarge shrugged, “Good guess.”

“I’ve never seen you.” The attention turned to the ghost of Ben, he ignored the soft cries from his siblings “You say you've been here a while but I’ve seen all the ghosts here at the mansion and I’ve never seen you.”

Sarge’s eye swiveled to take in Klaus, still zoned out and curled into Daves’ side. The rest of the room looked too. Dave wondered what the Hargreeves siblings were seeing, “We were blocked away, we could see you but you couldn’t see us.” Sarge’s face softened in a way that showed exactly how tired he is as well. “We’ve been trying to return to Klaus for a very long time.”

Before anyone could take in that statement Vanya jolted, “My concert. It’s going to start soon.”

Luther turned to frown at her, “That’s not safe.”

“Miss Vanya said she had a concert to play at. She is going.” Sarge stated, sharp and loud. 

It always was difficult to argue with Sarge. 


End file.
